Financial innovation, green investments, or climate change are changing insurers’ business ecosystems, impacting their business behaviour and financial vulnerability. Supervisors and other stakeholders are interested in identifying the path toward deterioration in the insurance company’s financial health as early as possible. Suptech tools enable them to discover more and to intervene in a timely manner. We propose an artificial intelligence approach using Kohonen’s self-organizing maps. The dataset used for development and testing included yearly financial statements with 4058 observations for European composite insurance companies from 2012 to 2021. In a novel manner, the model investigates the behaviour of insurers, looking for similarities. The model forms a map. For the obtained groupings of companies from different geographical origins, a common characteristic was discovered regarding their future financial deterioration. A threshold defined using the solvency capital requirement (SCR) ratio being below 130% for the next year is applied to the map. On the test sample, the model correctly identified on average 86% of problematic companies and 79% of unproblematic companies. Changing the SCR ratio level enables differentiation into multiple map sections. The model does not rely on traditional methods, or the use of the SCR ratio as a dependent variable but looks for similarities in the actual insurer’s financial behaviour. The proposed approach offers grounds for a Suptech tool of predictive generation to support early detection of the possible future financial distress of an insurance company.

Controllership, as an informational activity, is becoming a multidimensional function, about which numerous doubts exist as to whether to increase its independency and integrate it tightly with the decision-making process. Financial knowledge and business-analytical capabilities of carriers of controllership activity can offer support for operational, financial, and strategic restructuring. This is important when facing frequent business dynamics in order to enhance competitiveness and especially achieve short-term as well as strategic goals.

Background and Purpose: Many studies have explored the disclosures in annual reports of companies. Annual reports of banks differ significantly from annual reports of other business entities, particularly in terms of disclosed items. The aim of this article is to investigate the level of disclosures and which factors influence the level of disclosure in the annual reports of banks in Slovenia. Design/Methodology/Approach: We have observed disclosures of all banks in Slovenia for year 2012 and 2015. The factors as used in the study are age, size, the government share, profitability and complexity of a bank. Our disclosure checklist consists of 144 voluntary and mandatory items. Statistical analysis is performed using linear regression analysis. Results: The average score for banks in Slovenia is near 94 points or 63% of all possible disclosures. The results of analyses indicated positive associations and statistical correlations between the level of disclosure in annual reports and the size of a bank, the share of government ownership and negative statistical influence of the age of bank on the level of disclosure. Our results do not show statistically significant correlation between the level of disclosure and a bank’s profitability and complexity, which is against theory and findings from other similar research. Conclusion: In our opinion, results well reflect the Slovenian banking system and how banks reveal their information. Our finding is that banks in Slovenia provide less information to the public compared to the average companies in other branches or banks in similarly developed countries. The paper’s main contribution is to deepen our knowledge about disclosures in the bank’s annual reports and the answers what are the influential factors of disclosures for banks.

Purpose: This paper aims to inform the promotion of sustainable modes of transport. For this purpose, it deploys a means-ends framework as a type of second-order cybernetics and uses it to explore cognitive transport mode choice structures. Design/methodology/approach: The empirical study relies on a purposive sample and a qualitative research methodology known as laddering. It is aimed at the identification and comparative analysis of the cognitive means-ends structures of transport users. Findings: The results reveal more positive and complex associations for the car than for public transport. Two main positive means-ends structures are identified for public transport, one related with the relaxation and the other with doing useful things while travelling. Dominant positive structures for the car are related with self-confidence, satisfaction and personal freedom. Negative means-ends structures in addition reveal important justifications and rationalizations for car use. Practical implications: Based on the identified distinct means-ends elements and structures, this study holds important implications for developing a communications strategy and policy interventions seeking to promote public transport. Originality/value: Means-ends theory is proposed as an integrative cybernetic framework for the study of stakeholders’ (customers’) mental models. The empirical study is the first to concurrently and comparatively examine positive and negative means-ends chains for the car and for the public transport modes.

Management accounting systems (MASs) are essential to organisations because they provide high-quality information that supports planning and decision-making when it is relevant, timely and reliable. The effectiveness of MAS depends on the delivery of relevant, timely, and understandable information, yet organisations often fail to evaluate the quality of these services systematically, thereby limiting their strategic impact. Our study addresses the underexplored area of MAS service quality, focusing on internal dynamics within accounting departments and gaps in service provision. We conduct a gap analysis within a single consistent cultural environment (Slovenia) to assess the functioning of accounting services. In our study, the statistically significant preparer–user mismatch is concentrated in the reliability dimension. The findings suggest that reliability should be prioritised in efforts to improve MAS service quality. We discuss practical implications for strengthening MAS service quality, particularly through data integrity, reporting reliability, process standardisation and user expectation management.

This study examines job satisfaction among auditors (CPAs) in Slovenia, and its relationship with professional age, decision-making level, gender, and audit firm size. A modified Job Descriptive Index (JDI) questionnaire was administered to auditors in Slovenija. Data were analysed using ANOVA, Kruskal–Wallis H, and Mann–Whitney U tests. Overall, job satisfaction is high, about 75% all possible points on JDI measurement scale. No statistically significant differences were identified across professional age, decision-making level, gender, or audit firm size, indicating a homogeneous satisfaction pattern. Cross-sectional, self-reported data from a single country may limit generalisability. The results highlight the need for audit firms to support well-being, clarify career paths, and strengthen perceived autonomy to retain and attract young auditors. This is one of the first empirical studies of Slovenian auditors’ job satisfaction, using the JDI framework and several demographic and organisational variables.